John Defilippo Gets Canned and the Vikings’ Offense Is Better Already

Listen, you never want to take shots at a man after he gets fired… But damnit, that was terrible. I’m not going to go in on him, but just know that Santa has been watching you, John, and you made the naughty list. However, instead of finding coal in your stocking this Christmas, you’ll be finding bricks. You’ll need those to rebuild your career.

Defilippo may have never been the answer to the Vikings open position during the off-season. The general idea surrounding him was that because he was just apart of a Super Bowl winning team and that he must have some idea of how to run an offense. That’s a pretty big leap considering he had nearly nothing to do with it. What if Defilippo had been the quarterbacks coach of any other team in the league, other than the Eagles? Do you think he stands out as a leading candidate to take over an offense? No. I would bet that he wouldn’t have gotten the offensive coordinator position with the Vikings because he’s not, and has never been, an outstanding coach .He’s accomplished nothing throughout his career and the one other time he was an offensive coordinator in the NFL, he was with the Browns. That was in 2015 and they finished 3-13.

What went wrong?

Well, it’s tough to come into an organization with such high expectations. With that being said, the reason those expectations were high was because he had all of the weapons in the world to work with. Yet, he couldn’t figure out how to put up points, which was absolutely baffling. His play calling was so basic, I actually had it confused with a white girl wearing UGGs, holding a latte. There was nothing creative about his offense and he failed to make any adjustments from week to week. His problem was that he got used to seeing what a good offensive line looks like in Philadelphia. He didn’t know how to be innovative and take the pressure off of the guys up front. HEY JOHN… NEWSFLASH: The Vikings offensive line is made up of guys plucked from a Taco Bell in St. Paul. They are so bad. John must have just ignored that fact and acted like it would work to let Kirk sit in an eternally collapsing pocket. On top of that, it’s like he forgot that he had a running back. And a good one too. He could have at least used a hint of a running game to keep the defense honest. In the last 4 (1-3) games, Dalvin Cook has gotten 41 carries while Kirk has thrown the ball 161 times. I mean, that’s as close as you get to no diversity and you might as well schedule Cousins’ Tommy John surgery now. With Defilippo’s awful resume and lack of success with a great roster, I’d be shocked to see him as a successful offensive coordinator in the future.

Is Kevin Stefanski the answer?

He might be…

Kevin Stefanski is now the interim offensive coordinator for the Vikings. While nobody knows exactly what he may bring to the table, Vikings fans can be hopeful. He went to an Ivy league University, so he must have some sort of a brain. With any luck, he’s aware that they need to be more balanced and have much more of a running game. This is Stefanski’s 13th season with the Vikings so he knows the organization better than anyone. Maybe he’s just been drawing up his own plays all these years, studying the game relentlessly and whispering to his wife, “one day… one day I’ll get my shot.” Well your time is now Kevin. Hopefully, he’ll use that Ivy League mind of his to come up with innovative plays and options in order to take the pressure off of the offensive line. Offensive Tackle, Brian O’Neill, had the fastest 40 time of all the offensive linemen in the draft so maybe Kevin will figure out a way to incorporate plays that involve him moving around to throw some blocks.

The bottom line is that Minnesota needed to make a change. They did so and now they have hope.